Adults who ate eggs at least five times a week had a 27% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who rarely or never ate them.
The finding comes from a 2026 study published in the Journal of Nutrition by researchers at Loma Linda University Health.
Even much smaller amounts were tied to lower risk. Adults who ate eggs just one to three times a month had a 17% lower risk than non-eaters, and those who ate them two to four times a week had a 20% lower risk.
The pattern held after the researchers adjusted for age, sex, education, lifestyle, other foods and existing health conditions.
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The analysis drew on the Adventist Health Study-2, a long-running cohort of US Seventh-day Adventists, linked with Medicare records to identify Alzheimer's diagnoses.
Over an average follow-up of 15.3 years, 2,858 of the participants developed the disease.
The choline link to memory
Researchers point to choline, a nutrient concentrated in the egg yolk, as one likely reason. Choline is a building block for acetylcholine, a chemical messenger nerve cells use to communicate and one that plays a central role in memory and learning.
It also helps form phosphatidylcholine, a fat that keeps brain cell membranes and their signaling machinery working.
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"Compared to never eating eggs, eating at least five eggs per week can decrease risk of Alzheimer's," said Joan Sabaté, MD, DrPH, professor at Loma Linda University School of Public Health and the study's principal investigator, in the university's announcement of the findings.
Eggs also carry other nutrients the researchers flagged as brain-relevant, including the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, omega-3 fatty acids and phospholipids.
Where the cholesterol worry fits in
For decades many Americans cut back on eggs because of the cholesterol in the yolk.
That advice has softened, and eggs are now widely recognized as a nutrient-dense food that fits within a healthy eating pattern.
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If you want more on how a daily egg tracks with cholesterol, heart health and weight, we have looked at the evidence separately.
The Adventist cohort tends to eat a healthier diet overall than the wider US population, and the study cannot prove that eggs themselves caused the lower risk. It shows that egg eating and lower Alzheimer's risk moved together over 15 years.
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This article is made and published by Mie Hermansen, who may have used AI in the preparation.